All Natural
The Best YearsAs you passed beneath the large metal door frame, you were reminded of the 9 3/4 platform in Harry Potter: it felt as if you had entered another world. The silent hallway where the slightest whisper could be heard from one end of the corridor to the other was so drastically different from the cacophony of sound emitting from the dining room. The din of the lunchroom was a combination of clattering utensils, moving furniture, and animated chattering. Taking a deep breath, you walked purposefully through the cavernous room and out onto the sunlit patio where there were a few tables set up. You went over to a table about halfway across the patio and set down your bag.
Chanyeol, who had cut across the still green lawn from the door leading out of the gym, arrived at the same time you did, pulling out the chair for you. He then made a big show of brushing off the chair and bowing. You smiled, sat down, and ruffled his hair. Busy unpacking your lunch and chopsticks, you missed the slight flush that colored Chanyeol's cheeks. The rest of the group, already seated at the table, laughed at Chanyeol's hair, now messier than it had been. He reached up a hand and wrestled to smooth his locks into what he hoped closely resembled the hairstyle he had been sporting earlier in the day.
Huffing, Chanyeol pulled out the seat next to you and proceeded to sit, removing his lunch bag from his backpack.
You scrunched up your nose and playfully said, "Gosh, Yeol, did you just finish running a 5K?"
He smirked. "What I think you meant to ask me was, 'Gosh, Yeol, what's that enticing aroma that's being emitted from your skin?'"
Biting the inside of your cheek, you answered, with a completely straight face, "No, I don't think I did."
Chanyeol flexed an arm. "I just finished circuit training in the weight room. It's the aroma of manliness."
You coughed, nearly choking on the mouthful of rice you'd just eaten. Jongin clapped his hand on your back, causing the food to dislodge itself from your esophagus.
"Thank you," you croaked.
"Are you okay?" I asked, worry lacing my words.
Chanyeol handed you a water bottle from which you took a drink, nodding your head.
"Don't scare us like that again!" Baekhyun wailed.
"I'm okay. The food just went down the wrong pipe," you said, quickly picking up your chopsticks and returning to your lunch.
Everyone rolled their eyes, knowing that it'd take more than that to prevent you from enjoying your meal.
"Here," Chanyeol said, placing a piece of beef into your bowl. "Try it; my mom made it."
You picked up the beautifully browned and aromatic piece of meat, lightly coated with the special sauce that Mrs. Park created, with your chopsticks and put it in your mouth, savoring the flavor. "It's really good! Thanks, Yeol."
Chanyeol turned back to the conversation at the table, as did you, but not before sneaking your chopsticks into his dish and grabbing another piece of beef.
As the beef was making its trip back to your bowl, where it'd pick up some rice before making the ascent to your mouth, your hand wobbled, accidentally brushing against Chanyeol's arm. He turned his head, noticing your guilt-stricken face, and narrowed his large eyes, scrutinizing you. Under the heat of his gaze, you awkwardly laughed, patting his hand before quickly stuffing the beef into your mouth. Chanyeol's right hand shot towards your bowl, making to grab a piece of your chicken.You snatched the bowl away quickly, nearly dumping it on the ground.
What you neglected to remember was that this wasn't me you were facing off against. This was Chanyeol, and his arms were infinitely longer than mine. He easily swapped the chopsticks into his left hand before holding your shoulder firmly with his right hand as he slipped his left behind your back to your bowl, successfully picking up two pieces of chicken. Your head turned from your bowl to Chanyeol, and Jongin took this prime opportunity to snag a piece for himself, placing it in his mouth and sighing in bliss. I face-palmed while watching this whole scene unfold.
Jongin grabbed a piece of my chicken, chewing happily as he rested his palm on my back, rubbing up and down as if to communicate that he too couldn't believe how childish you two were being. I glanced down at my bowl, noticing that some of my food was missing, then looked up, raising an eyebrow. He sheepishly grinned as I mentally face-palmed, this time because Jongin was in no position to judge what was childish.
In the middle of the table were the communal dishes. Today's were two orders of kimbap, three orders of mandu, and two order of tteokbokki. Combined with the lunches that we all brought, it was a normal amount of food for the fourteen of us.
"Yah, Baozi!" said Luhan. "Where do you think you're taking that plate of mandu to?"
Ximin laughed, happily stuffing yet another mandu in his mouth. Luhan, who had yet to have one, reached for the plate but Xiumin pulled it away at the last moment, causing Luhan to nearly fall into his lap. The rest of us shared the remaining two plates while we watched Xiuhan duke it out.
"I take it back," said Baekhyun. "We don't need a TV in school."
Chanyeol nodded and held up both hands, shaping a box with his fingers. "If we had a piece of cardboard, we could cut out the middle of it, and hold it up in front of them."
Rolling our eyes [A/N: At the thought of extra work for me LOL], we both neglected to reply to Chanyeol, who was in his own little world. Jongin stood up and leaned over the table, grabbing a bowl of the tteokbokki and placing it in front of himself. You and I reached in with our chopsticks, each grabbing a piece before Jongin had time to sit back down.
"Lily baked a cake yesterday. She brought it into school today," Jongin said, starting the conversation.
The mini scuffles over food around the table ceased at once, as if someone had pressed 'freeze frame' on a remote. As if on cue, all eyes fell on me, causing my face to flush. [A/N: Attention isn't really my thing. Sometimes.]
"Can I have some?" asked Tao, forgoing his argument with Kris.
"No," I said, smacking the back of Jongin's head.
"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head. He really didn't expect me to use any force, since I rarely ever did, and it'd shocked him.
"There was a reason why I didn't say anything," I muttered near his ear. "It's for a class of mine. Not for the pack of hungry wolves we refer to as our friends."
"Heh.. My bad," Jongin said, but the damage was done.
All eyes were still on me as I tried to shimmy my way out of the predicament that Jongin had pushed me into.
"I..uh.. made it as an assignment in a class of mine. My teacher definitely wouldn't take the 'my dog ate my homework' excuse, so I can't give any to you guys. But I really want to!"
Chen pouted, looking like my stuffed ducky. "You should bake something for us sometime soon." [A/N: Now that I think of it, I have no idea where my ducky went D:]
"Remember when she baked Beibei's birthday cake?" Baekhyun asked, closing his eyes and thinking about your party a month ago.
"You guys were so eager to eat that Lori was barely able to blow out the candles before you all queued up behind her," I pointed out.
"Chanyeol was so excited that he picked her up and placed her three feet away so that he could swipe some of the frosting off before you portioned the cake," laughed Joonmyun.
You sat back a little, glaring slightly at Chanyeol as you remembered the day of your party. Chanyeol, feeling the heat of your glare, cautiously glanced at you, breaking out into a nervous smile before enveloping you in a hug that smooshed your face against his chest. You could feel the thrum of his heart and the warmth emitting from him as he whispered a belated apology.
"She must love Chanyeol a lot if she's not fighting to get away from him and his 'manly aroma'," said Luhan, holding up his fingers and forming air quotes.
Upon hearing that, you gently pushed Chanyeol's chest, pulling back and dramatically taking a deep breath of air.
"I don't smell that bad, do I?"
"No," you answered truthfully.
"You smell even worse," said Kris, earning himself a jab in his side.
________
/sighs/ Of course Chrome had to shut down on me.
2/3 of this I wrote today, and I didn't go back to proofread, so I hope that there aren't any mistakes. ^^;; Tell me what you think of it? I started rambling and going on about food, so I hope that it made sense.
I wanted to update my angst story tonight, but I find it more difficult to write for that story than I do this. /shrugs/ Not entirely sure why.
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